The Bobbsey Twins Series by Laura Lee Hope 1904-1979

This is the text of an eBay guide that I created in 2006.  The guides are now orphaned pages that can only be found through an Internet search.  eBay plans to delete the guides in April 2018.

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The Bobbsey Twins series was published by Grosset and Dunlap from 1908 until 1979.  The original Bobbsey Twins series lasted for 72 titles.  The series was written by several authors under the pseudonym of Laura Lee Hope.  

The first publishers of the Bobbsey Twins were Mershon and Chatterton-Peck before Grosset and Dunlap took over in 1908.  In 1979, new titles were published in softcover under the Wanderer imprint by Simon and Schuster.  This page does not cover the Simon and Schuster titles.  

The original copyright date is listed below for each volume.  Many of the books were revised during the 1960s, and the titles were changed.  The 1960s titles are also indicated in the below list.

List of titles

  1. The Bobbsey Twins, or Merry Days Indoors and Out, 1904
      The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport, 1961
  2. The Bobbsey Twins in the Country, 1907
      The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in the Country, 1961
  3. The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore, 1907
      The Bobbsey Twins: The Secret at the Seashore, 1961
  4. The Bobbsey Twins at School, 1913
      The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery at School, 1962
  5. The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge, 1913
      The Bobbsey Twins and the Mystery at Snow Lodge, 1960
  6. The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat, 1915
  7. The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook, 1915
      The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery at Meadow Brook, 1963
  8. The Bobbsey Twins at Home, 1916
      The Bobbsey Twins' Big Adventure at Home, 1960
  9. The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City, 1917
      The Bobbsey Twins' Search in the Great City, 1960
10. The Bobbsey Twins on Blueberrry Island, 1917
11. The Bobbsey Twins on the Deep Blue Sea, 1918
      The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery on the Deep Blue Sea, 1965
12. The Bobbsey Twins in Washington, 1919
      The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in Washington, 1962
13. The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West, 1920
      The Bobbsey Twins' Visit to the Great West, 1966
14. The Bobbsey Twins at Cedar Camp, 1921
      The Bobbsey Twins and the Cedar Camp Mystery, 1967
15. The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair, 1922
      The Bobbsey Twins and the County Fair Mystery, 1960
16. The Bobbsey Twins Camping Out, 1923
17. The Bobbsey Twins and Baby May, 1924
      The Bobbsey Twins' Adventures with Baby May, 1968
18. The Bobbsey Twins Keeping House, 1925
      The Bobbsey Twins and the Play House Secret, 1968
19. The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank, 1926
      The Bobbsey Twins and the Four Leaf Clover Mystery, 1968
20. The Bobbsey Twins at Cherry Corners, 1927
      The Bobbsey Twins: The Mystery at Cherry Corners, 1971
21. The Bobbsey Twins and their Schoolmates, 1928
22. The Bobbsey Twins Treasure Hunting, 1929      
23. The Bobbsey Twins at Spruce Lake, 1930
24. The Bobbsey Twins' Wonderful Secret, 1931
      The Bobbsey Twins' Wonderful Winter Secret, 1962
25. The Bobbsey Twins at the Circus, 1932
     The Bobbsey Twins and the Circus Surprise, 1960
26. The Bobbsey Twins on an Airplane Trip, 1933    
27. The Bobbsey Twins Solve a Mystery, 1932           
28. The Bobbsey Twins on a Ranch, 1935           
29. The Bobbsey Twins in Eskimo Land, 1936          
30. The Bobbsey Twins in a Radio Play, 1937
31. The Bobbsey Twins at Windmill Cottage, 1938
32. The Bobbsey Twins at Lighthouse Point, 1939
33. The Bobbsey Twins at Indian Hollow, 1940
34. The Bobbsey Twins at the Ice Carnival, 1941
35. The Bobbsey Twins in the Land of Cotton, 1942    
36. The Bobbsey Twins in Echo Valley, 1943
37. The Bobbsey Twins on the Pony Trail, 1944    
38. The Bobbsey Twins at Mystery Mansion, 1945    
39. The Bobbsey Twins at Sugar Maple Hill, 1946
40. The Bobbsey Twins in Mexico, 1947
41. The Bobbsey Twins' Toy Shop, 1948
42. The Bobbsey Twins in Tulip Land, 1949
43. The Bobbsey Twins in Rainbow Valley, 1950
44. The Bobbsey Twins' Own Little Railroad, 1951
45. The Bobbsey Twins at Whitesail Harbor, 1952
46. The Bobbsey Twins and the Horseshoe Riddle, 1953
47. The Bobbsey Twins at Big Bear Pond, 1953
48. The Bobbsey Twins on a Bicycle Trip, 1954
49. The Bobbsey Twins' Own Little Ferryboat, 1956
50. The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock, 1956
51. The Bobbsey Twins' Forest Adventure, 1957
52. The Bobbsey Twins at London Tower, 1959
53. The Bobbsey Twins in the Mystery Cave, 1960
54. The Bobbsey Twins in Volcano Land, 1961
55. The Bobbsey Twins and the Goldfish Mystery, 1962
56. The Bobbsey Twins and the Big River Mystery, 1963
57. The Bobbsey Twins and the Greek Hat Mystery, 1964
58. The Bobbsey Twins: Search for the Green Rooster, 1965
59. The Bobbsey Twins and Their Camel Adventure, 1966
60. The Bobbsey Twins: Mystery of the King's Puppet, 1967
61. The Bobbsey Twins and the Secret of Candy Castle, 1968
62. The Bobbsey Twins and the Doodlebug Mystery, 1969
63. The Bobbsey Twins and the Talking Fox Mystery, 1970
64. The Bobbsey Twins: The Red, White and Blue Mystery, 1971
65. The Bobbsey Twins: Dr. Funnybone's Secret, 1972
66. The Bobbsey Twins and the Tagalong Giraffe, 1973
67. The Bobbsey Twins and the Flying Clown, 1974
68. The Bobbsey Twins: On the Sun-Moon Cruise, 1975
69. The Bobbsey Twins: The Freedom Bell Mystery, 1976
70. The Bobbsey Twins: The Smoky Mountain Mystery, 1977
71. The Bobbsey Twins in a TV Mystery Show, 1978
72. The Bobbsey Twins: The Coral Turtle Mystery, 1979

Formats

The Bobbsey Twins books printed by Grosset and Dunlap from 1908 until 1932 have four glossy illustrations.  These books are thick and have good quality paper.  From 1932 through 1942, the books were printed with just a glossy frontispiece illustration.  From 1942 through 1948, the books became less thick.  These books each have a plain paper frontispiece illustration and have poor quality paper.  From 1949 through around 1962, the books have a tweed cover.  Around 1963 to 1964, the series switched to the lavender spine picture cover format.  

It is important to note that not all of the Bobbsey Twins books were printed in the lavender spine picture cover format during the 1960s and 1970s.  It is impossible to obtain a complete set of volumes 1 through 72 in the lavender spine format.  I do not know for certain which titles were omitted, but I believe it is some of the books that were never revised, such as volumes 21 through 23 among others.

For more information and pictures about the different Bobbsey Twins formats, there is an excellent website with this information.  It can easily be found by searching the internet for Bobbsey Twins formats.*

Prices

Prices are constantly changing based on supply and demand.  Generally, there is not as much demand for Bobbsey Twins books as for other vintage series books.  However, certain formats that are more scarce will sell for higher prices when several buyers are interested.  This guide is not intended to be a price guide since it is impossible to predict what a certain book will bring at any given time.

First printings

The copyright page is the last place to look when trying to determine whether a Bobbsey Twins book is the first printing.  The copyright pages were rarely updated by Grosset and Dunlap.

If the book does not have a dust jacket and if it is one of the thick, earlier books with glossy illustrations, look in the back of the book after the end of the story to see if there is a list of Bobbsey Twins titles.  If the book is one of the less thick books that has a plain paper frontispiece, there may be a list in the front of the book on a page other than the copyright page.  Do not use any list that may appear on the copyright page.  For the lavender spine books, there is a list of titles that appears on the back cover of the book.

If the book has a dust jacket, look on the front flap and/or back panel for a list of Bobbsey Twins titles. 

Once an appropriate list of titles has been found, refer to the last title in the list.  The last title listed determines the year of printing.  For instance, if the dust jacket's front flap lists to The Bobbsey Twins in the Land of Cotton, then the book was printed in 1942, which is the year of publication for The Bobbsey Twins in the Land of Cotton.  Or, if the dust jacket's front flap lists to The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock, then the book was printed in 1956, which is the year of publication for The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock. 

*eBay never allowed off-site links in its guides, so I had to tell users how to find the Bobbsey Twins formats pages.  The page to which I referred in the guide is Bobbsey Twins Formats.  Another page now exists, The Bobbsey Twins Collectors Guide.